


cereal (the 3am arm wrestle)

by viiisenya



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Kaiju, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crush at First Sight, F/M, One Shot, grocery store meetings, highkey they're ooc but oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 05:55:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14129538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viiisenya/pseuds/viiisenya
Summary: The honorable thing to do in that moment would have been to let go and let the beautiful girl abscond into the night with the last box of Cocoa Puffs. But Raleighreallywanted the Cocoa Puffs, and Yancy be damned, he wouldn't be eating another bite of fucking pasta.-prompt: "we're both at the grocery store at 3am and you offered to arm wrestle me for the last box of cereal"





	cereal (the 3am arm wrestle)

**Author's Note:**

> since pac rim: uprising came out, i've decided to bring these short AUs i wrote on ff.n here lol. i edited them slightly but they're not very good considering i wrote them like 3 or 4 years ago. anyways, i love maleigh sm n im mad charlie didn't come back for uprising but here's this shitty AU anyways 
> 
> enjoy-

It was almost three in the morning on a Tuesday night and there were only five cars parked outside the 24-hour Target. Six now counting the beat up Audi that pulled into the parking lot. It was an awfully old car; the type that made protests upon starting up, and sometimes refused to provide heat when it was fifteen below. But, Raleigh cherished the damn thing with all his heart.

  
He put his car into park and headed towards the automatic gates of retail heaven. He could have gone to the local grocery store three blocks from his apartment, but Raleigh enjoyed the night drive. He also enjoyed going to Target in general, but that was beside the point.

  
Navigating his way through the red and white aisles, Raleigh hummed to himself his mother’s favorite song. It was a bad habit that often resulted in his sister getting upset with him, but it was done automatically to fill the space of silence around him. Humming the songs didn’t make him sad anymore either, instead making him feel as if his mother was there with him.

  
Raleigh wasn’t sure what he wanted to eat that late at night, but knew for a fact that he wasn’t going to settle for anything that contained or was related to pasta. He’d spent the last month and a half eating pasta and the mere thought of it was enough to make him feel like he was going to vomit. The pasta was, of course, Yancy's idea every time. 

  
He skimmed the signs as he passed the aisles until the word  _cereal_ caught his attention. The prospect of Cocoa Puffs that late was absolutely divine. He even started to salivate a little. Raleigh walked straight into the aisle, grinning like an idiot, and made a beeline to where Cocoa Puffs would usually be. There was one box left. It was almost as if God had written for him to have Cocoa Puffs on that particular night.

  
Raleigh leaned forward to grab the box, but just as he did, another hand latched onto it as well. Time stopped. He turned his head to see who wanted the cereal as much as he did, preparing himself a hard glare but the sight of _her_ was almost enough for him to let go of the box. He was in absolute awe.

  
He smiled and she returned it generously (and he felt his heart jump and skip and miss several beats). Neither of them moved, though.

  
The honorable thing to do in that moment would have been to let go and let the beautiful girl abscond into the night with the last box of Cocoa Puffs. But Raleigh _really_ wanted the Cocoa Puffs, and Yancy be damned, he wouldn't be eating another bite of fucking pasta.  
  


They stood there, connected by the orange box filled with three dollars and fifty cents worth of artificial chocolate bliss, staring at each other.  He waited for her to let go, and she waited for him to let go, but neither of them did. It was almost as if an eternity had passed, each bated breath a year or ten.  
  


“I’ll arm wrestle you for it,” Raleigh blurted. The words left his mouth with little thought and he felt as though he should have regretted them, but he didn’t. The mysterious girl smiled, almost triumphantly even though she didn’t win anything (but his heart).  
  


“Okay,” she agreed, letting go of the box. She had trusted him enough not to run off with it in that moment, and in conjunction with the sound of her voice, Raleigh found himself grinning like an idiot.

-

They were flat on the ground with their bellies pressed against the seemingly clean floor. Raleigh could see the dirt that resided on top of the tiles, though, his nose itching from the dust. They faced each other and had their respective arms ready in position. She placed her small hand into his and they looked at each other.   
  


He was grateful Yancy had been in bed when he left, knowing that his brother would have howled into the night with wild laughter at the younger Becket brother arm wrestling a girl half his size for some stupid cereal.   
  


“Three, two, one,” the both of them counted down simultaneously before it began.  
  


He had the upper hand, literally, for the first few seconds. The back of her hand threatened to touch the white tiles and Raleigh anticipated seeing eyes that spelled defeat, but he was greeted with determination instead.  
  


That was when it became harder to push her arm closer to the ground. She held her own very well and a burn was developing in Raleigh’s arm that shot through his shoulder. It wasn’t until he couldn’t take it anymore that she slapped the back of his hand onto the grimy floor.  
  


Holy shit.  
  


She was up and dusting herself off while he still laid there, looking up and feeling the great, sudden need to worship her.   
           

The mystery girl with the strength of steel began walking away after grabbing the box and her bag from the floor, prompting Raleigh to scramble to his feet. He chased after her a few steps, his oversized boots sounding like thunder in the white-lit aisle.   
           

“Wait! Can I get your number?” He asked breathlessly. She turned around and flashed him a brilliant smile.  
           

 _Holy_ shit. _  
_

“Only if you can beat me in an arm wrestle.”


End file.
